DLTK's Crafts for KidsA Remembrance Day Story

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He was very old now, but could still hold himself stiffly at attention before the
monument. His war, the one to end all wars, now just a fading part of history.
Very few could remember, first-hand, the savageness of the ordeal that had sent millions of young men to their
deaths. Cannon fodder, they'd called them, sent before the guns to be mown down -- blown apart by chunks of metal which had decimated their frail
bodies. The cream of a generation; almost wiped out. He was haunted by the faces of the boys he'd had to order into battle, the ones
who'd never come back. Yet one nameless ghost was able to bring a measure of comfort to his tormented
mind. At the sound of the gun signaling the eleventh hour he was mentally transported back to the fields of
Flanders.

The battle had raged for over two hours, with neither side gaining any
advantage. Wave after wave
of soldiers had been dispatched from the muddy trenches and sent over the
top. So many had died
already that day that he decided he could not afford to lose any more men before reinforcements
arrived. Perhaps they'd give the remnants a few more days of life.
There came a slight lull in the
battle due to the sheer exhaustion of the men on both sides.

During this interval, a young soldier came up to him requesting that he be allowed to go over the
top.
He looked at the boy who couldn't have been more than nineteen. Was this extreme bravery in the
face of the enemy or was the soldier so scared he just needed to get it over with?

"Why would you want to throw your life away soldier? It's almost certain death to go out there."

"My best friend went out over an hour ago, captain, and he hasn't come back.
I know my friend must
be hurt and calling for me. I must go to him, sir, I must." There were tears in the boy's
eyes . It was
as if this were the most important thing in the world to him."

"Soldier, I'm sorry, but your friend is probably dead. What purpose would it serve to let you sacrifice
your life too?"

"At least I'd know I'd tried, sir, he'd do the same thing in my shoes.
I know he would."

He was about to order the boy back to the ranks, but the impact of his words softened his
heart. He
remembered the awful pain he'd felt himself when his brother had died.
He'd never had the chance
to say goodbye.

"All right soldier, you can go." Despite the horror all around them, he saw a radiant smile on the
boy's face, as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"God bless you, sir," said the soldier.

It was a long time before the guns fell silent for the last time and each side was allowed to gather
their dead and wounded. The captain remembered the young soldier.
He looked through the many
piles of bodies. Young men. So many as to give an unreal quality to the scene before
him.

When he came to the makeshift hospital, he looked carefully through the
casualties. He soon found
himself before the prone body of the soldier, alive, but severely wounded.
He knelt down beside the
young man and gently laid a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry, son. I knew I was wrong to let you go."

"Oh no, sir. I'm glad you did and I'm glad you're here now so I can thank
you. You see sir, I found
my friend. He was badly wounded, but I was able to comfort him at the end.
As I held him dying in
my arms, he looked me in the eyes and said: "I knew you'd come."

The young soldier faded between consciousness and oblivion for some time before he finally slipped
away. The captain stayed by his side until the end, tears streaming quietly down his
cheeks. Only in
war could the happy endings be so terribly sad.

As the bugle sounded "Taps", the old captain envisioned once again the young soldier's
face. Looking up, he could almost hear the stone monument calling out to him: "I knew you'd come."